Safety apparatus

ABSTRACT

A new and improved article of clothing that will severely reduce, and possibly eliminate, the chances that a person who falls down will injure himself or herself The present invention would preferably be a jacket, with the jacket including at least two internal air bags. Both air bags could be in the front portion of the jacket, or the jacket could have one air bag in front and another air bag in back. When the air bags are located on the present invention, each air bag would be located beneath the outer covering of the jacket, effectively hiding it from view. Each air bag would automatically inflate by an activation means. The activation means would either be triggered by a sudden change in position by a user of the jacket or voluntarily triggered by a user by activating an activator that would be attached to a user&#39;s wrist and connected to the air bags.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention concerns that of a new and improved articleof clothing that will severely reduce, and possibly eliminate, thechances that a person who falls down will injure himself or herself.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

[0002] U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,842, issued to Pinsley et al., discloses animpact absorbing garment which is shown having a number of inflatablecompartments attached to the garment.

[0003] U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,952, issued to Keyes, discloses aself-contained protective device/system designed to protect the hips,pelvis, buttocks, and coccyx areas of a user.

[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,098, issued to Guill, discloses a device forproviding crash protection to people aboard a land, air, sea or spacevehicle.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,065, issued to McGee, discloses a protectiveand attractive garment such as a jumpsuit which has the appearance of anormal article of clothing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention concerns that of a new and improved articleof clothing that will severely reduce, and possibly eliminate, thechances that a person who falls down will injure himself or herself. Thepresent invention would preferably be a jacket, with the jacketincluding at least two internal air bags. Both air bags could be in thefront portion of the jacket, or the jacket could have one air bag infront and another air bag in back. When the air bags are located on thepresent invention, each air bag would be located beneath the outercovering of the jacket, effectively hiding it from view.

[0007] Each air bag would automatically inflate by an activation means.The activation means would either be triggered by a sudden change inposition by a user of the jacket or voluntarily triggered by a user byactivating an activator that would be attached to a user's wrist andconnected to the air bags.

[0008] There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of a safety apparatus in order that the detailed descriptionthereof that follows may be better understood and in order that thepresent contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, ofcourse, additional features of the safety apparatus that will bedescribed hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of theclaims appended hereto.

[0009] In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of thesafety apparatus in detail, it is to be understood that the safetyapparatus is not limited in its application to the details ofconstruction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in thefollowing description or illustrated in the drawings. The safetyapparatus is capable of other embodiments and being practiced andcarried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that thephraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose ofdescriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.

[0010] As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that theconception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilizedas a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systemsfor carrying out the several purposes of the present safety apparatus.It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as includingsuch equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from thespirit and scope of the present invention.

[0011] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide asafety apparatus, which has all of the advantages of the prior art andnone of the disadvantages.

[0012] It is another object of the present invention to provide a safetyapparatus which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.

[0013] It is another object of the present invention to provide a safetyapparatus which is of durable and reliable construction.

[0014] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide asafety apparatus which is economically affordable and available forrelevant purchasing government entities.

[0015] Other objects, features and advantages of the present inventionwill become more readily apparent from the following detaileddescription of the preferred embodiment when considered with theattached drawings and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016]FIG. 1 is a front view of a jacket of the present invention.

[0017]FIG. 2 is a rear view of a jacket of the present invention.

[0018]FIG. 3 is a front view of a “vest style” jacket of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0019]FIG. 1 is a front view of jacket 2 of the present invention.Jacket 2 of the present invention is a new and improved article ofclothing that will severely reduce, and possibly eliminate, the chancesthat a person who falls down will injure himself or herself. Jacket 2would preferably include at least a pair of air bags 4 and 6, with theair bags being located in pockets 5 and 7. Jacket 2 of the presentinvention could place the pockets 5 and 7 in a wide variety of locationswithin the jacket, with both pockets located in the front portion of thejacket, or alternatively, jacket 2 could have one pocket in front andanother pocket in back. When the air bags are located on the presentinvention, each air bag would be located within the pockets of thejacket 2, effectively hiding them from view.

[0020]FIG. 1 is not meant to be limiting as to the location of variousair bags used with the present invention. Rather, FIG. 1 is one of manypossible embodiments that the present invention could be made and stillcreate a workable embodiment of the present invention. The primary goalwith all embodiments would be to ensure that the present invention wouldreduce, and possibly eliminate, the chances that a person who falls downwill injure himself or herself.

[0021] Each air bag would automatically inflate by an activation means8. Activation means 8 would either be triggered by a sudden change inposition by a user of jacket 2 or voluntarily triggered by a user byactivating an activator 10 that would be attached to a user's wrist andconnected to the air bags.

[0022]FIG. 2 is a rear view of jacket 2 of the present invention, whileFIG. 3 is a front view of a “vest style” jacket of the presentinvention. Again, the placement of various air bags shown is not meantto be limiting as to the location of various air bags used with thepresent invention. Rather, FIGS. 2 and 3, like FIG. 1, represents one ofmany possible embodiments that the present invention could be made andstill create a workable embodiment of the present invention. The primarygoal with all embodiments would be to ensure that the present inventionwould reduce, and possibly eliminate, the chances that a person whofalls down will injure himself or herself.

[0023]FIG. 4 shows a preferred schematic of the electrical configurationof the present invention. Battery 12 would be the power source and wouldbe connected to power switch 14. Power switch 14 would normally be inthe “on” position, but could be turned to the “off” position if a userwould need to bend over or do other work. The power switch 14 wouldprevent the air bags 4 and 6 from accidentally inflating when notneeded.

[0024] Power switch 14 would be connected to activation means 8, whichwould preferably be a mercury switch. Activation means would be housedwithin housing 9. Housing 9 would be positioned so that when the jacket2 would be upright, then the activation means 8 would not becomeactivated. However, once a user would cause jacket 2 to reach a certainposition relative to the horizontal plane, activation means 8 wouldbecome activated, completing the circuit between battery 12 and solenoidvalve 18. Once solenoid valve 18 receives power, it would activate theair canisters 20 which would then quickly inflate air bags 4 and 6.

[0025] Pressure switch 16 would be electronically connected between theactivation means 8 and the solenoid valve 18. Pressure switch 16 wouldbe preferably positioned on the underside of the shoulder seam and wouldnormally be in an open position when jacket 2 is not being worn. Onceplaced on a person, however, then the pressure switch 16 would become aclosed circuit.

[0026] As long as a jacket 2 would be on a user and the power switch 14would be in an “on” position, the only object of FIG. 4 that maintainsthe “open circuit” status of the electrical configuration is theactivation means 8. Once a user causes the jacket 2 to be displaced to aspecific pre-set degree from the vertical plane, then the mercury withinthe mercury switch would reconfigure and cause mercury switch to becomea closed circuit.

[0027] As previously shown, the electrical configuration would alsoinclude activator 10, which would preferably be a button on the sleeveof jacket 2. Activator 10 would simply be a circuit, normally open,which when depressed, would close the circuit between battery 12 andsolenoid valve 18. Once activator 10 would be depressed, then theelectrical configuration between battery 12 and solenoid valve 18 wouldbecome closed, causing air canisters 20 to immediately inflate air bags4 and 6.

[0028] The air canisters 20 used with the present invention would bereplaceable and would also be preferably located within pockets 5 and 7.All the electronics of the present invention would be located in betweenthe inner and outer lining of the jacket, with the battery 12 beingaccessible to allow for regular changing of the battery 12 whennecessary.

What I claim as my invention is:
 1. A safety apparatus comprising: (a) ajacket, (b) a pair of pockets located on the jacket, a first pocket anda second pocket, (c) a pair of air bags, a first air bag and a secondair bag, the first air bag placed within the first pocket, the secondair bag placed within the second pocket, and (d) means for inflating thepair of air bags.
 2. A safety apparatus according to claim 1 wherein themeans for inflating the pair of air bags further comprises: (a) abattery, (b) a power switch connected to the battery, the power switchhaving two positions, an “on” position and an “off” position, (c) amercury switch connected to the power switch, the mercury switchpositioned to be an open circuit when the jacket would be in an uprightposition, the mercury switch designed to become a closed circuit oncethe jacket has deviated from the vertical plane beyond a certainpredetermined angle. (d) a pressure switch connected to the mercuryswitch, the pressure switch having two positions, an “on” position andan “off” position, the pressure switch turning to the “on” position whenthe jacket would be worn by an individual, (e) a solenoid valveconnected to the pressure switch, (f) at least one air canisterconnected to the solenoid valve, the air canister also connected to thepair of air bags, (g) wherein the mercury switch, once becoming anclosed circuit, will allow power to flow from the battery to thesolenoid valve, activating the air canisters which would then forciblyand quickly pump air into the pair of air bags.
 3. A safety apparatusaccording to claim 1 wherein the means for inflating the pair of airbags further comprises: (a) a battery, (b) an activator connected to thebattery, the activator normally being an open circuit, the activatorpreferably being a button located on a sleeve of the jacket, (c) atleast one air canister connected to the activator, the air canister alsoconnected to the pair of air bags, (d) wherein the activator, oncedepressed by a user, would become a closed circuit, allowing allow powerto flow from the battery to the solenoid valve, activating the aircanisters which would then forcibly and quickly pump air into the pairof air bags.